Xibalba
Homeland:Land of the Remembered Xibalba is the dark ruler of theLand of the Forgotten and the main antagonist turned anti-hero of The Book of Life. ''He is the husband of La Muerte. He is an ancient, immortal god of death and decay who loves to meddle in mortal affairs. He first entered the plot upon making a bet with his wife, La Muerte, about who the young, mortal girl Maria would marry, Manolo or Jaoquin. He is voiced by Ron Pearlman. Physical Appearance Xibalba is an ancient entity like his wife, La Muerte. His flesh is made entirely out of black tar, with green eyes and blood-red skulls for pupils. He has a pair of large, black angel wings, and is the only known ancient, god to have them. He wears a regal black cloak covered by conquistador chest armor, black gloves with teal flames, and a silver crown with horns sprouting from the both sides, topped with black wax candles lit with green flames. When assuming a mortal disguise he tends to take on the mortal form of an elderly, mortal man. Xibalba has a white moustache and beard. Xibalba fingers are long, spindly and appear to be razor sharp. Personality Xibalba appears on the surface as sly, cunning and cruel. He is a trickster who will resort to lies and cheating to get his own way such as when he used his snake staff to kill Manolo so he could win the wager by default. Despite this, he is not pure evil, rather mischievous than malevolent. He is very suave in manner and tends to be well spoken. He believes that there is little to no good left in humanity and that they are beyond redemption. This may or may not be down to the jaded view he sees from his realm, the Land of the Forgotten. He claims that the reason he meddles in mortal affairs is because it is the only fun he gets outside of ruling. Despite his actions throughout most of the story, he truly does care for his wife, La Muerte and will attempt to please her, particularly towards the end. He also gains a grudging respect for certain mortals who impress him. In ''The Book of Life Relationships La Muerte La Muerte is Xibalba's wife. They first met each other many thousands of years ago. Xibalba calls his wife La Muerte "mi amor" which is Spanish for "my love". They have a complicated relationship due to their different beliefs and the completely different natures of the realms they rule. La Muerte believes that mortalkind is still has some good in it while Xibalba believes there is no good. This causes tension in their relationship as their beliefs are so very different. Xibalba's relationship with his wife, La Muerte, is complicated and not without its difficulties, nevertheless, they could never live without one another. Xibalba truly loves his wife and he quite literally melts at her touch. However, he has become very insecure around her ever since he cheated in their previous wager. Xibalba has shown to regret that decision and was more than willing to enter a new bet with her in order to keep her interested. When they first appear, she was shown to be somewhat playful (presumably because it was the Day of The Dead), calling him "my love" and briefly admonished him for almost killing an elderly man despite the end of the old mortal man's life being more or less over. When he begs her to trade realms with him, saying how much he has come to hate his, she gets very defensive, telling him that the only reason he ruled The Land of the Forgotten was because he had cheated in their last wager, and expressed her great disappointment in him for not being the man she'd fallen in love with so long ago. When he proposed a new wager she was still slightly angry but couldn't help agreeing to it. He bet that if his boy (Joaquin) married Maria, then he would rule over the Land of the Remembered. She, in turn, bet that if Manolo married Maria then he, Xibalba, would stop meddling in the affairs of humankind. When he complained about this, saying that it's the only enjoyment he gets outside of being ruler of the Land of the Forgotten, she was quick to call off the bet. In the end he reluctantly but lovingly agreed, much to her enjoyment. When it appeared that he was going to lose the wager, Xibalba quickly took matters into his own hands. He set the trap that would end in Manolo's death and as no one other than Joaquin remained for Maria to wed, this secured Xibalba's victory by default. Later, when his wife La Muerte discovered the truth from Manolo, he showed unease at what he had done yet still unwilling to set it right. In the end, after Manolo and Maria are finally married, he gave his wife, La Muerte a heartfelt apology for his behavior and asked her to forgive him. She gladly accepted and pulled him in for a passionate kiss. Now, in the present day, he is still on good terms with La Muerte, apparently having renounced his old ways forever and redeemed himself once and for all. When the children from the museum tour leave, he and La Muerte share a tender moment and another very passionate kiss. Gallery Xibalba.png The Wager is set.png Book of Life Poster2.jpg Xibalba Toys XibalbaPopFigure.PNG XibalbaLegacyFigure.PNG Trivia * His name comes from the Mayan word or term for the Mayan underworld, Xibalba, which means, "place of fear." * When he and La Muerte kiss at the very end of the movie, his black vulture wings and her sombrero . * Xibalba can teleport magically by transforming himself into a gooey puddle of black tar. * Xibalba's eyes are red skulls which can revolve within their sockets depending on which direction he is looking in. *According to animator and director Jorge R. Gutierrez on his Twitter account page he based The Book Of Life Film's main antagonist turned anti-hero Xibalba on the aztec death god of the dead Mictlantecuhtli, who was one of two rulers of Mictlan, Mictlantecuhtli rules Mictlan alongside with his wife and fellow aztec death goddess of the dead Mictecacihuatl, Mictlantecuhtli was also king of Mictlan. * La Muerte's nickname for Xibalba is Balby. *Xibalba is voiced by Ron Pearlman. * Xibalba has an older brother who looks like an Aztec god. * Xibalba and La Muerte met when he was courting her sister ** Xibalba’s courtship to La Noche was to no avail. But the moment she paid any attention to him, he fell in love with La Muerte. * Xibalba discovered La Muerte’s fondness for wagers when he made a bet that he would win her heart. * Xibalba was once a knight in the heavens but he got cocky and was punished. * Xibalba is a few centuries older than La Muerte. * Xibalba’s snake staff is a part of him. * Xibalba knew Joaquin’s father very well, Captain Mondrian had won him a previous wager with La Muerte. Quotes "Fix this for me, old friend." "How about another little wager?" "By the ancient rules, the wager is set." "Let us not dwell in the past, mi amor (my love)." "I never sent that snake to Maria, and I never gave that medal to Joaquin." "The Land of the Remembered has a new ruler now." "I wager you are right, mi amor." "I'm sorry, my love. You deserve better than me, I know that now. Will you ever forgive me?" "Tell me boy, what eats up you at night. What, do tell, is your worst fear?" "Please trade lands with me, darling. I hate it down there!" 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